Houston lags behind Dallas, Austin in rent growth

A new report on rent increases suggests that the Sun Belt’s unprecedented growth could be plateauing.

In June, 97 of the nation’s 100 largest cities saw month-over-month rent increases, according to the latest Apartment List report. Of the three major Texas metros, two — Austin and Dallas — outpaced the national average rent increase of 1.3 percent. In fact, Dallas’ monthly rent increase was double the national average, however it still ranked 17th nationally in this regard.

“New York City has seen the nation’s fastest city-level rent growth over the past year,” according to the report, “while some of the hottest Sun Belt markets are finally showing signs of plateauing growth.”

The average year-over-year increase in Texas overall was 14 percent, in line with the national average, but well behind New York State’s average of 18.2 percent. Both Austin and Dallas saw increases of around 17 percent, though Houston lagged far behind with a mere 9.2 percent increase since this time last year. San Antonio was the most in-line with the national average with 13.8 percent.

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The difference in rent prices paints a similar picture. The median two-bedroom apartment rents for $1,780 in Dallas, $1,824 in Austin and $1,278 in Houston. The lone star state still remains relatively affordable compared to east coast cities where median one-bedroom rents are often upwards of $2,000 per month, according to Apartment List.

“Major markets throughout the Sun Belt have experienced virtually-uninterrupted rent growth since the start of the pandemic,” the report said, “but over the past six months, some of the fastest growth has been occurring in pricey coastal markets.”

Dallas was actually outperformed by its surrounding submarkets. In Allen, rent is up 18.8 percent year-over-year and in McKinney, it was up over 20 percent. Plano, which reportedly has the most expensive rents in the Dallas metro, were up 19.5 percent over the past year. Austin proper was only overtaken by one of its suburbs, Round Rock, which saw a 19.4 percent increase.